They compare him to a young Elton John, but aside from the fact that they both play piano, I honestly don't hear it. Instead, Sacha Sacket belongs to a more current generation of performers, namely crooning, lovelorn artists such as Keane, Coldplay, and the late Jeff Buckley.

Although John was a firecracker live in his early days, he was pretty much a pop artist, back when such a label didn't necessarily mean disposable fluff. Sacket's voice - melancholy, yearning, romantic - doesn't have John's theatrical flamboyance. In fact, there is nothing theatrical about Sacket's vocals; it reaches inward, deep into the farthest depths of his soul. Such introspection can be emotionally exhausting or exhilarating, depending on the singer and the lyrics. In this case, count me among those who choose the latter. Sacket has a beautiful voice. What I love about it is his restraint; he could, at any time, hit those soaring high falsetto notes that Chris Martin wooed listeners into platinum sales.

If there's a single musician that Sacket reminds me of, it wouldn't be male; stylistically and in spirit, Sacket mostly recalls Tori Amos. Like Amos, Sacket isn't afraid to put a few rough edges in his music, either sonically or lyrically. In "Brandon Boyd" (named after the lead singer of Incubus, in case you didn't know), Sacket sings, "We're the cool kids/We don't have to try." It's a complete slam on the popularity contest that is high school yet it's executed with a mature, sharply focused delivery.

Sacket veers beyond modern singer/songwriter cliches, unafraid to stray from acoustic pop and into electronics ("Stay"). Even "Brandon Boyd" evolves into dreamy rock that would make U2 smile in support.

Sacha Sacket may not be Elton John; the good news is that he doesn't have to be.